Elena and others,
Daniel is correct when the material is very dried; if it is sort of
pliable, just yielding a bit if you (very carefully) put some pressure
on it, then you might first try to use a weakish alcohol-glycerol
solution for a day or two. This is a little less drastic and may do
less damage to the tissues if you need to do sections or something like
that. Please remember that you will get out a distorted specimen no
matter what, so measurements and detailed morphological description may
be difficult, unless you can show that the rehydrated specimen matches
other, similar specimens. If you use the soap solution, please be
careful to wash it out before tossing the beast in regular
preservatives.
Kristian Fd
-----Original Message-----
From: annelida-bounces from oat.bio.indiana.edu
[mailto:annelida-bounces from oat.bio.indiana.edu] On Behalf Of Daniel Martin
Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 3:43 AM
To: <Annelida list
Subject: Re: [Annelida] Dried material
Dear Elena and worm lovers,
A colleague working with insects told me that a good method to rehydrate
dried samples consists on using a few drops (or even only one, depending
on the size of the animal) of a common dish washing soap mixed with
distilled water. The sample must be monitored very close, as the soap
may destroy the most delicate tissues. I have not yet used that method,
although I will try soon, as I also have an old, dried sample and the OK
from the museum curator.
I will let you know the results as soon as done, but if you decide to
try first, please, share the results too ;-) .
Wormly,
Dani.
--
Dr. Daniel Martin
Scientific Researcher
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC)
Director
Centre d'Estudis Avancats de Blanes (CEAB)
-> Carrer d'acces a la Cala Sant Francesc 14
-> 17300 Blanes (Girona), Catalunya (Spain)
-> Tel: (34) 972336101
-> Fax: (34) 972337806
-> WWW Institutional: http://www.ceab.csic.es
-> WWW Personal: http://www.ceab.csic.es/~dani/
_______________________________________________
Annelida mailing list
Post: Annelida from net.bio.net
Help/archive: http://www.bio.net/biomail/listinfo/annelida
Resources: http://www.annelida.net